Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Business: Energy

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of rising energy costs on the rate of business deaths.

Graham Stuart: The Government monitors the economy using a range of data sources. In a dynamic and competitive economy, a proportion of businesses will cease trading each year, for a range of reasons. The recently announced Energy Bill Relief Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-outlines-plans-to-help-cut-energy-bills-for-businesses) all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. The Government will publish a review of the scheme after 3 months to inform decisions on future support after March 2023. The review will focus in particular on identifying the most vulnerable non-domestic customers and how the government will continue assisting them with energy costs. Continuing support to those deemed eligible would begin at the end of the initial 6-month support scheme, without a gap.

Small Businesses: Energy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support he is providing to SMEs to (a) assist with their energy costs and (b) to improve the insulation and heat efficiency of their premises.

Graham Stuart: The recently announced Energy Bill Relief Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-outlines-plans-to-help-cut-energy-bills-for-businesses) that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. The Government will publish a review of the scheme after 3 months to inform decisions on future support after March 2023. The review will focus in particular on identifying the most vulnerable non-domestic customers and how the government will continue assisting them with energy costs. Continuing support to those deemed eligible would begin at the end of the initial 6-month support scheme, without a gap.

Business: Energy

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with businesses effected by rising energy prices.

Graham Stuart: The Government regularly engages with businesses to understand the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. The recently announced Energy Bill Relief Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-outlines-plans-to-help-cut-energy-bills-for-businesses) ensures that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. A review of the scheme, to be published in three months, will identify the most vulnerable non-domestic customers and how the government will continue assisting them with energy costs after the initial six months.

Cost of Living

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help educate the public on ways to alleviate the cost of living crisis.

Graham Stuart: In the British Energy Security Strategy, the Government committed to launching a comprehensive energy advice service on GOV.UK. The ‘Find ways to save energy in your home’ page launched on the 28th of July. The Government will also provide additional support through a telephone service and local advice provision in due course. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced details of the scheme on Wednesday 21st September. The press release and guidance has been circulated widely across business sectors and trade bodies as well as though social media. Press Release: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-outlines-plans-to-help-cut-energy-bills-for-businesses.Explainer document: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers, which now includes the maximum discount.

Business: Energy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help businesses improve their energy efficiency.

Graham Stuart: The Government is bringing forward an exemption on business rates for green technology and providing tax discounts through the Climate Change Agreements scheme in return for meeting energy reduction targets. In addition, the Government is offering £289m of grant funding for energy efficiency and low carbon technologies to support businesses with high energy usage. Small businesses are eligible for grants under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and can search for other local grant and advice schemes on gov.uk. The Government has also announced a temporary scheme offering support to businesses to protect against rising gas and electricity bills. In addition, Officials continue to develop options for additional energy efficiency support to businesses.

Energy Bills Rebate

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to make an assessment of the adequacy of funding awarded to households under the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bills Support Scheme is an £11.7bn scheme which forms part of the previously announced £37bn cost of living package for consumers. The package will see millions of the most vulnerable households receive at least £1,200 of support this year, with all domestic electricity customers receiving £400 to help with their bills. This scheme is part of the ambitious support the Government is providing this winter. On 8 September, the Government announced the Energy Price Guarantee which will reduce the unit cost of energy in household bills from 1st October to ensure that a typical household in Great Britain pays, on average, no more than £2,500 a year on their energy bill.

Energy: Prices

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that residents who (a) live in buildings with communal heating systems and (b) are not subject to the energy price cap receive financial support with their energy bills.

Graham Stuart: In respect of their heating costs, those on communal heating networks will primarily benefit through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, details of which were announced on 21 September. They will also receive support in respect of their electricity costs through the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to amend the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to include a subsidy of £5,000 towards the cost of a heat pump for households that retain a gas boiler where that is required by the planning authority due to (a) noise restrictions on heat pumps and (b) other legal restrictions.

Graham Stuart: The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is a voluntary scheme to support households’ transition away from fossil fuel heating. The Government believes the funding available under this policy should be directed towards technologies that achieve this, rather than those which would continue to involve the burning of fossil fuels. As a result, the BUS does not currently provide funding for households that retain a gas boiler.

Fuel Oil: Northern Ireland

Colum Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department held discussions with representatives of the heating oil sector in Northern Ireland when devising energy bills schemes to help tackle the cost of living crisis.

Graham Stuart: The Government has engaged extensively with energy organisations and suppliers in the development of the energy bill support schemes for families and businesses. This has included engaging with representatives of the Northern Ireland Oil Federation and the Consumer Council.

Business: Energy

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the statement by the Prime Minister of 8 September 2022 on UK Energy Costs, Official Report, column 398, when he plans to provide further details on the financial support for energy bills which will be made available to businesses.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bill Relief Scheme for non-domestic customers was announced on 21 September and details can be found at the link below:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers. The Government will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers (including all UK businesses, those in the voluntary sector like charities, and public sector organisations such as schools and hospitals) whose current gas and electricity prices have been significantly inflated in light of global energy prices. This support will be equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee put in place for households.

Wind Power: Scotland

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the amount of electricity generated in GW by (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind projects in Scotland that will be subject to price controls for gas distribution and electricity transmission under RIIO-2 in each of the next seven years.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem regulates gas and electricity distribution and transmission network companies through the RIIO price control framework. The current price control RIIO-T2 provides up to £40bn for investment in the network between now and 2026 that will support our net zero and energy security ambitions while protecting consumers. Electricity generation is not subject to the price control process.

Energy: Conservation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many household energy efficiency installation of all types were installed between April and June 2022; and how many such installations were carried out on average in each month between March 2013 and March 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Government published information on household energy efficiency installations funded through Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Deal here, Green Homes Grant Vouchers, Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery and the Home Upgrade Grant here. Between April and June 2022, 46,504 measures were installed. The average number of installations between March 2013 and March 2022 across these schemes was 33,195 per month.

Housing: Energy

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what data he holds on the number of (a) new and (b) existing homes in which energy efficiency measures were installed in each year since 2010.

Graham Stuart: Information regarding the number of existing households receiving energy efficiency measures through Government funded schemes from 2013 are in Table 9.1 accompanying the Household Energy Efficiency Statistics, detailed report 2021 here. The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) were Government schemes prior to 2013. More information can be found here and here. The Government does not hold information on installations in new households as these schemes are aimed towards retrofitting households. Information on energy performance of new dwellings is included in the statistics on Energy Performance of Buildings Certificates here and as Open Data here.

Department of Health and Social Care

Medical Equipment: Energy

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made for the implications of his policies of the potential impact of rising energy bills on those who use medical equipment in the home.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available to help with the cost of running (a) ventilators, (b) feeding machines, (c) nebulisers, and (d) medical equipment in the home.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the electricity rebate for oxygen concentrators to cover all pieces of medical equipment used in the home, including feeding machines, nebulisers and ventilators.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on taking steps to reduce the impact of rising energy bills on people who use medical equipment at home.

Robert Jenrick: Certain specialised NHS England services also provide rebates on energy costs for patients using home medical equipment. These arrangements are unique to the contracts or service specifications of these conditions. While there is no uniform national policy for NHS England to reimburse additional utility costs, local authorities can also provide support depending on the context.

Emergency Calls: Staff

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure an adequate number of call handlers for the 999 emergency services line.

Robert Jenrick: As set out in Our Plan for Patients and the National Health Service’s (NHS) plan to increase capacity and operational resilience in urgent and emergency care ahead of winter, the NHS will boost ambulance call handlers to 2,500 by December 2022, supported by a £1.3 million national recruitment campaign.

Health Services: Energy

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that the rising cost of energy bills do not negatively impact (a) patient safety and (b) services in NHS (i) hospitals and (ii) community services.

Robert Jenrick: Through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, the Government will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers, including public sector organisations in the National Health Service. This will be equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee in place for households.NHS England have released a further £1.5 billion to NHS integrated care systems to manage the rising costs of energy and inflation. Local integrated care boards will determine how this funding will be used in hospitals and community services.

Department of Health and Social Care: Work Experience

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many young people aged eighteen or younger have undertaken work experience in her Department in the last 12 months; and what proportion of those young people were (a) girls and (b) boys from state schools.

Robert Jenrick: The information requested is not held centrally.

Doctors: Training

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many training posts were offered to medical graduates in the last 12 months; how many and what proportion of medical graduates were not offered a training post in that period; and whether her Department plans to increase the number of medical training posts available to graduate doctors in future years.

Robert Jenrick: Following graduation from medical schools in the United Kingdom, graduates can apply to enter year one of the Foundation Programmes (FP) to commence training in the National Health Service. All UK medical school graduates who applied for year one of the 2022 FP were offered a post, with 8,209 foundation training places filled.From 2023, the number of FP training posts will increase to accommodate the expansion of medical school intake of 1,500 between 2018 and 2020. From 2025, the number of FP posts will also increase in line with the temporary increase in medical students who completed A-Levels in 2020 and 2021 who had an offer from a university in England to study medicine, subject to their grades.

Community Diagnostic Centres: Hinckley

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a community diagnostics centre in Hinckley.

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a day case unit in Hinckley.

Robert Jenrick: NHS England works with local systems to prioritise bids for future community diagnostic centre (CDC) sites and assesses business cases. The locations of further CDCs will be announced in due course, with completion dates dependent on the nature of each project. The Department and NHS England continue to develop plans to increase the number of CDCs to 160 by March 2025.Local health system planners are responsible for determining local health infrastructure in collaboration with NHS England. From 2022/23 to 2024/25, £12 billion of operational capital will be provided to the National Health Service. NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board will consider how this funding is allocated in the local area, including any assessment of the merits of a day case unit at Hinckley.

Department for Health and Social Care: East of England

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effect on her policies of trends in the level of population growth in the East of England; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: The information is not held in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Members: Correspondence

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he will respond to the correspondence of 7 April 2022 from the hon. Member for Rhondda on the UK's sanctions regime.

Jesse Norman: We are grateful to the Honourable member for bringing this matter to our attention and for re-sending this correspondence on 15 June, of which we had no record of receiving previously. We apologise for the delay and will work to expedite a response.

Iran: Islam

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she last raised the issue of the sponsorship of extremist Islamist groups by Iran with her Iranian counterpart.

Gillian Keegan: We are at the end of negotiations on restoring the JCPoA. A viable deal was put on the table in March which would have returned Iran to full compliance with its JCPoA commitments and returned the US to the deal. We were clear that a return to the JCPoA could pave the way for further diplomatic efforts to address outstanding regional and security concerns. Iran has refused to seize a critical diplomatic opportunity to conclude the deal with continued demands beyond the scope of the JCPoA. If a deal is not struck the JCPoA will collapse. In this scenario we would carefully consider all options in partnership with our allies.We have long been clear about our concerns over Iran's destabilising activity throughout the region including its political, financial and military support to a number of militant groups. The former Foreign Secretary last spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Abdollahian on 14 February 2022. They discussed a range of issues including the need for Iran to cease its destabilising activity in the region. We continue to work with our partners and allies to address and attribute this activity where it occurs.

Central African Republic: Politics and Government

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential risk to the (a) governance and (b) stability of the Central African Republic if the constitution is revised to remove the Presidential term limit; and what steps the UK can take with (i) regional and (ii) continental partners to support (A) their input into any constitutional revision process and (B) freedom, fairness and peacefulness in any subsequent referendum.

Gillian Keegan: Alongside our partners in the international community, the UK is currently monitoring proposals to revise the constitution and Presidential term limit in the Central African Republic.We recognise the importance of democratic processes and the potential impact of any constitutional changes, including the removal of Presidential term limits, and their implications for democratic and judicial institutions in the Central African Republic. In partnership with the international community, the UK Government will monitor the situation in country from our Embassy in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ministry of Defence

HMS Anson: Lichfield

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of linking HMS Anson with the City of Lichfield in the context of Thomas Anson having been the first Earl of Lichfield and the continuation of that line.

Sarah Atherton: I welcome the constituency interest and the proposal will be considered in the regular rounds of affiliation planning, noting that the Royal Navy seeks to affiliate ships with communities across the country over time, which can be made at borough, town, city or county level.

Department for Work and Pensions

Cost of Living Payments

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the the effectiveness of the facility on her Department's website for reporting a missing cost of living payment for facilitating (a) communications between her Department and recipients and (b) fast resolution of claims.

Victoria Prentis: We do not have specific measurements of effectiveness in place in relation to the missing payment form on Gov.uk. However, over 161,000 people have contacted the Department through this channel throughout August and September. We have a team in place that has responded to over 90% of these queries to date. This does not necessarily mean that payments have been missed. Many enquiries made through the GOV.UK form are resolved by payments being subsequently made as planned. In some cases, on further investigation of an enquiry, it may be found that the claimant had no entitlement to a £326 Cost of Living Payment.

Child Benefit and Universal Credit: Distance Learning

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether full-time attendance at Harrow Online School by a 16 year old constitutes approved education for the purposes of (a) a child benefit and (b) an universal credit claim.

Victoria Prentis: We do not have enough information on this particular case to confirm the Childs eligibility, however eligibility for both the Child Element of Universal Credit and Child Benefit is met where all of the following applies (1) the young person has not yet reached the upper age limit for each benefit (2) the course of education or training the child is undertaking is non-advanced (i.e. up to A-Level or Scottish Qualification framework level 6) and (3) the average time spent during term receiving tuition, engaging in practical work or supervised study or taking examinations exceeds 12 hours per week. If such a course is provided by a school or college remotely, it is ‘approved education’ for the purposes of eligibility to the Child Element of Universal Credit and Child Benefit.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Recreation Spaces: Urban Areas

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that local tree and plant growers are utilised in outdoor public projects in urban areas to help improve air quality.

Trudy Harrison: We know that trees outside woodlands, including trees in urban areas, parks, and along roads and footpaths can provide many environmental benefits for people.There is strong evidence that healthy, well-chosen and well placed urban trees can provide a large range of benefits valuable to the economy and to people. This includes a relatively small but beneficial impact on urban air quality. However, current evidence suggests that trees would not be enough to solve the air quality problems at a city scale. Through the Nature for Climate Fund we are boosting the numbers of trees near to where people live, investing millions of pounds in tree planting and in the skills to incorporate trees in the right places to generate maximum benefits. Additional funding is being provided to support tree growers and seed suppliers across England, to help meet the growing demand for trees. We have developed capital and innovation grants for the sector that will encourage the adoption of mechanisation and automation, and help enhance the quantity, quality, diversity and biosecurity of domestic tree production.Alongside this, Defra has been working closely with the Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable Group who have published an action plan 'Unlocking green growth: A plan from the ornamental horticulture & landscaping industry'. This sets out the industry's potential contributions to tackling some of the environmental challenges facing the UK, including through the use of a greater proportion of British-produced plants and trees in public sector projects, and the incorporation of more community green spaces within the urban planning process. Where Government can help, we will work with the sector to help it take advantage of the opportunities outlined in the action plan.

Home Office

Refugees: Resettlement

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April to Question 150113, when she will publish her Department’s approach to evaluating ongoing refugee resettlement.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April to Question 150113, whether the publication of her Department’s approach to evaluating ongoing refugee resettlement will apply to (a) all existing and (b) future refugee resettlement schemes.

Tom Pursglove: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer to Question 671 provided on 18 May 2022 by my honourable friend, the Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster).

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Housing: Green Belt

Oliver Dowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the Government's policy is on the calculation of new housing targets in local authorities which are predominately made up of Green Belt land.

Oliver Dowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government is taking to address local housing projections which are based on out-of-date numbers.

Lee Rowley: Existing Government policy is to help make home ownership affordable for more people and to help more people rent their own home. To do that, we will need to deliver more homes. The standard method for assessing local housing need is used by councils to inform the preparation of their local plans and, as part of the local plan process, Councils are responsible for determining the best approach to development in their areas, including taking into consideration important matters such as Green Belt.The previous Government undertook a review of the standard method formula in 2020 and, after carefully considering consultation responses, they retained the existing formula providing stability and certainty for planning and for local communities. As with all policies, we are monitoring the standard method, particularly as the impact of changes to the way we live and work and levelling up become clear.

Planning: Green Belt

Oliver Dowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he will take steps to protect the Green Belt in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Lee Rowley: This Government has a manifesto commitment to protect and enhance the Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that a local authority should not propose to alter a Green Belt boundary unless there are exceptional circumstances and it can show at examination of the Local Plan that it has explored every other reasonable option: including using brownfield land or optimising the density of development. Within Green Belt, most types of new building are questioned and should be refused planning permission unless there are very special circumstances, as determined by the local authority. These strong protections for Green Belt land are to remain firmly in place.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Equality

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, on how many occasions the provision of mandatory training for staff in (a) her Departmental, and (b) UK Export Finance regarding their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 has been cited by those departments as a defence against Section 109 proceedings since the commencement of that Act.

James Duddridge: The Department for International Trade and UK Export Finance have not cited the provision of mandatory training given to staff as a defence against Section 109 of the Equality Act 2010 in any proceedings brought in relation to the Equality Act 2010.This is based on the records held in accordance with its retention policies.